Fujiwara Ginjiro - Fujiwara Ginjiro

Japanese: 藤原銀次郎 - ふじわら・ぎんじろう

Year of death: March 17, 1960
Year of birth: 17th June 1869 (25th July 1869)
A businessman from the Meiji to Showa eras. Known as the Paper King. Born in Shinano Province (Nagano Prefecture). In 1890, he graduated from Keio University and joined the Matsue Nippo newspaper, but in 1892, he moved to Mitsui Bank at the invitation of Nakagawa Hikojiro, and then moved to Tomioka Silk Mill and Mitsui & Co. In 1901, he became executive director of Oji Paper, which was in a management crisis, and shifted its focus to newsprint. He also successfully rebuilt the company by inviting his subordinates from his time at Mitsui & Co. The experience he gained during this time served him well later on, and he became a rational and patient manager. In 1920, he became president and executive director. During the recession, he competed fiercely with Fuji Paper and Karafuto Kogyo, and in 1933, he merged with them to monopolize more than 80% of Western paper production. In 1938, he retired to the position of chairman, and in 1939, he invested 8 million yen of his own money to establish Fujiwara Institute of Technology (Keio University Faculty of Engineering). He later served as Minister of Commerce in the Yonai Cabinet, Minister of Munitions in the Koiso Cabinet, and Advisor to the Tojo Cabinet. After the war, he was designated a war criminal, but was released in 1946. Looking at the founding of the Fujiwara Institute of Technology and the Fujiwara Science Foundation in 1951, he was a man who foresaw the current technologically driven economic development.

(Saito Ken)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：昭和35.3.17(1960)
生年：明治2.6.17(1869.7.25)
明治から昭和時代の実業家。製紙王と呼ばれた。信濃国(長野県)生まれ。明治23(1890)年慶応義塾を卒業,『松江日報』に入ったが,27年中上川彦次郎の招きで三井銀行に移り,その後富岡製糸所,三井物産に転じた。44年経営危機の王子製紙専務となり,主体を新聞用紙に転換し,また三井物産時代の部下を招いて再建に成功した。この時代の経験がその後に生き,合理的で忍耐強い経営者となった。大正9(1920)年専務取締役社長に就任。不況期富士製紙,樺太工業と激烈な競争を展開,昭和8(1933)年これらを併合,洋紙生産の80%以上を独占した。13年会長職に退き,14年私財800万円を投じて藤原工業大学(慶応大学工学部)を創立した。その後米内内閣商相,小磯内閣軍需相,東条内閣顧問を歴任した。大戦後戦犯に指名されたが,21年釈放。藤原工業大学設立や34年の藤原科学財団設立をみると,現在の技術力先導の経済発展を先見していた人物であった。<参考文献>下田将美編『藤原銀次郎回顧80年』

(齋藤憲)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

<<: Fujiwara effect

>>: Fujiwara-kyo